What's the right path?

My design journey started as a design graduate from Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom. Majorly the design school taught me how to device solutions through different mediums like print, digital drawings, fashion photography, animation, sketching, 3D models to name a few. Graduating in 2009, with economic depression in place and having only 2 companies coming in for campus hiring, I picked a job which was way below my calibre and the kind of contributions I could do to the consumer world. It was only wise for me to not restrict myself to the type of training I got in the design school. So, I explored paths of interiors, print, fashion & lifestyle for some 7 years. This experience broadened my skills of empathising with each kind of user in diverse product categories. But I wasn't doing my best, I always felt there is something missing in my career and I need to relook at the field I am in.

I was always a curious and rebellious mind. I would ask questions, think as a person who would want to consume the products I am involved in creating, be it the walls of a school or the cover story of a magazine on a flight or the jewellery to be styled by an expat for an expat-community hosted party.

Luck struck me when I was hired as a print magazine designer for Bihanga (in-flight magazine for Biman Bangladesh) and Gulf Life (in-flight magazine for Gulf Air).

I think my boss back then in the publication house knew I would be able to relate to the product he wants to launch and that's when I started my UX journey in 2016. He put me on his dream start-up project and I got introduced to a world of overnight decisions, fail fast - learn fast, 48 hour deadline releases, customer journeys, wireframes, empathy mapping, information architecture, mural, sketch, user research interviews, data reports to name a few.

With this company I did my first UX project as an individual contributor, where I designed not just the funding pitches but also conducted the market studies, created their design system, marketing systems for 200+ salons to follow across India, devised and executed strategies to get more subscriptions, conducting user interviews, high-fidelity prototypes and lower environment testing.

And then?

I went on to create 1 B2C app (iOS and Android), 1 B2C website (responsive) and 2 B2B apps (iOS and Android). All these without studying Masters in expensive design schools.

It gave me the confidence to improve and explore my capabilities and talent as a professional. I was introduced to a world which wasn't taught to me in one of the best design schools of India (aka Pearl Academy). It taught me some of the most important things that set me apart:

• Degrees alone cannot give you success. And especially expensive ones

• Don't be afraid to explore

• Practical world is way too different and ambiguity is the theme

• You have to be consistent to make your way ahead and that's what sets you apart from the world

How did I do it?

I was consistent and committed to learn and grow. So, I studied. Day and night. I had no clue how to fulfil my then boss-cum-client's briefs. But I had the zeal to accomplish tasks at hand.

I did small courses on Udemy, Coursera, Interaction Design Association, YouTube and I barely paid INR 500 for all of this. I studied Google material design (free for use) and made it my bible.

If I have to contribute to my success and where I am, I would credit it to the opportunity I got from my then-bosses who had the vision to grow and built as well as the heart to take a chance on hiring me for this job. And also, companies like Google who made learning easy with opening their material guidelines for everyone to use; Udemy, Coursera & Interaction Design Association who make education cheaper and affordable for anyone and everyone at any time.

What happened next?

It landed me the right company, Verizon. I'm presently employed by Verizon in their Bangalore office and working on the most glamorous products of my career till now - 5G Home Internet used by millions of the US homes.

Few things to look forward to in my next posts:

1. Know about how I became a part of the top most US telecom company from a small Indian private company.

2. Learn "How I learnt to ask the right questions" there.

3. Build your network by leading with empathy

Happy weekend y'all!